Edzo’s Burger Shop
1571 Sherman AvenueSorry. Still not back in Kalamazoo.
We had to go to Illinois for a skating competition. I’m not going to get in to but it turned in to a whole thing. J, B, and I drove Friday (in the snow storm) to get there. We had a team hotel Friday night and B skated Saturday morning. L stayed at a friend’s house in Kalamazoo and was supposed to get on a charter bus Saturday morning and meet us over there…but the charter bus cancelled leaving three of our teams stranded in Kalamazoo.
The weekend started with a snow day so we were able to get out of the house pretty early. B but wasn’t feeling well. Missing the competition wasn’t an option. We loaded him up and planned on getting him to the hotel hoping things would get better.
We got to the hotel and wanted to get him in before he saw any of his teammates. That didn’t happen either. As soon as we walked in the door, half his team was in the lobby. We made excuses about why he couldn’t come hang out went to the room hoping we could get him to relax.
He eventually said he was hungry. So was I. We weren’t going to bring him to a restaurant and I happened to find a burger shop just down the street from our hotel.
Edzo’s Burger Shop is on Sherman Avenue and Orrington Avenue just south of Davis Street in what I believe is downtown Evanston, IL….at least it felt like a downtown area…it’s a high density commerical district if it’s not actually the “downtown.” The burger shop shares an entrance with an Italian restaurant. Edzo’s takes the signage though and it’s easy to find with the large yellow awning hanging off the building.
I walked in to find a kind of minimalist approach to the restaurant. There was a sign to seat yourself. I expected this to be a counter service restaurant. Technically it isn’t…..but it also isn’t a full service restaurant. There is a counter, but you don’t order there.
All ordering is done on your phone. If you’re doing carry-out, there’s a couple of signs on the walls with QR codes to put in a carry out order. The restaurant is also cashless and you have to pay online.
If you’re dining in, there are QR codes on the table that correspond to the table you are sitting at.
It really is better if you just order ahead if you’re not planning on dining in but I didn’t realize that. The wait wasn’t bad though. It took about ten minutes and I just took a seat in the dining room since there was only one other person in the restaurant at the time.
I picked Edzo’s because they’re a burger shop. I wasn’t going to let that slip by me. I ordered the Build Your Own, added a second burger patty, American cheese, a Fried Egg and hot giardiniera because..you know, it’s Chicago. The sandwich was amazing. The burger was juicy, crispy, and tasty all at once. The cheese melted in to the meat and the bacon was super crispy. The runny egg made a little bit of a sauce and the hot giardiniera gave it a little kick. Hot giardiniera really should be a standard option to every sandwich. This burger is all the great things I like about good burgers.
To go with my burger, I got the Angry Fries. These amazing hand cut fries are topped what is just called “4 kinds of spicy.” I could figure out hot sauce, giardiniera, and jalapenos but don’t really know what the fourth is. I also added on some Merkt’s Cheddar Cheese sauce which helped mellow things out a big. The guy bagging up the meal threw in a fork and I am so glad they did. These fries were a mess but an amazingly delicious mess.
J told me later she has been craving a hot dog since the last time we were in Chicago. That was also for a skating competition and we were in Glenview. I didn’t know that when I picked this place but it worked out pretty well that I did.
I ordered the Char Dog for J because she didn’t want everything that came on a Chicago dog. She got this one with just mustard and pickles. The dog came on that delicious Chicago style poppy seed bun with a pickle spear that was as big as the hot dog and enough mustard to cause a huge mess. This dog really hit that craving that she’s been having.
She also got an order of the Truffle Fries. The basket of hand cut fries is coated with Truffle salt an Parmesan cheese. She told me she wasn’t super hungry but wanted these fries. That was fine. It meant I got about half of them. They were super delicious. I love, love, love this kind of fry and the truffle and parmesan topping is by far my favorite way to eat fries.
We were still super worried about B’s stomach but he kept saying he was hungry so we had to feed him. We kept it simple and got him a grilled cheese. The Plain Grilled Cheese is just American cheese and white bread. Super simple. We only gave him half which he finished off pretty quickly. It was a pretty solid grilled cheese and he quickly asked for the second half.
Our bill for lunch was right around $55.
Edzo’s Burger Shop is a cool place not too far from Northwestern University. It’s a simple shop that seems to run pretty efficiently with a cashless online ordering system. The food was great. I was a little hesitant about pitching this to J when we first got to town but once I realized it was within walking distance of our hotel and it would be quick, I knew she’d be on board. We missed out on the dinner with the other skater parents but that was fine with me. You know how much I like a greasy, delicious hamburger…and that’s what this place is.
SW Michigan Dining 